New History of the Marathas v2.c24.97

v2.c24.97

For two years Saiyad Husain Ali struggled hard in the Deccan to put down the Maratha encroachments as best he could, and to meet the intrigues which the Emperor was assiduously devising in order to ruin him. His brother Saiyad Abdullah’s position at Delhi was steadily deteriorating and became so precarious, that being afraid of his own life, he recalled Husain Ali from the south with all expedition and with a strong military equipment to save their position at Court. Husain Ali thereupon took full counsel with his friends and followers, and came to the conclusion that his only chance of success lay in securing the goodwill and co-operation of the Marathas, particularly of Shahu and his supporters. He could not afford to antagonise them, if he were to remain absent from the Deccan: for the two ministers could easily be crushed between the Marathas in the south and the Emperor’s clique in the north. The author of Shahu’s chronicle² writes :—